[Regnum] Before the start of official negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which took place in Istanbul on June 2, the heads of the delegations of both countries — Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov — held a meeting. This was reported by Izvestia.
Medinsky confirmed to journalists that the bilateral meeting took place.
“This predetermined the productive course of further negotiations,” the publication’s source explained.
It is noted that the conversation between Medinsky and Umerov lasted 2.5 hours.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, a new round of direct negotiations on the conflict settlement took place in Istanbul on June 2. The meeting lasted more than an hour. At it, the delegations communicated in Russian behind closed doors.
Moscow was represented at the meeting by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Igor Kostyukov and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.
Following the talks, the head of the delegation Medinsky said that Moscow and Kiev would exchange sick and seriously wounded soldiers on the principle of "all for all." The parties would also conduct a new prisoner exchange on the formula of "1000 for 1000."
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Text of the Russian Federation memorandum on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine has been published
The text of the Russian memorandum on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine has been published. The document presented on June 2 suggests, in particular, Ukraine's refusal to join NATO and the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the territory of the regions that returned to Russia in 2022.
The document was handed over to the Ukrainian side during the negotiations in Istanbul. Russia proposed two options for a ceasefire. The first involves the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the temporarily occupied Russian territories.
"International legal recognition of the incorporation of Crimea, the LPR, the DPR, the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation; the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian Armed Forces units and other Ukrainian paramilitary formations from their territories," RIA Novosti quotes the text of the document.
The second option contains clauses prohibiting the redeployment of troops, ending mobilization in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the supply of foreign military aid to Kyiv, beginning demobilization, excluding sabotage against the Russian Federation, and also withdrawing troops from new regions of Russia during the 30-day truce.
The memorandum also provides for Kiev’s neutrality, its refusal to join military alliances, and a ban on military activity by other states on the territory of Ukraine.
“[The main parameters of the final settlement of the conflict include] the neutrality of Ukraine, which implies its refusal to join military alliances and coalitions, as well as a ban on any military activity by third countries on the territory of Ukraine and the deployment of foreign armed formations, military bases and military infrastructure there,” the document says.
The agreement also implies that Ukraine's status as a non-nuclear weapons state must be confirmed. In addition, the Kiev regime must ensure the rights and freedoms of the Russian-speaking population and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The head of the Russian delegation at the negotiations with Ukraine, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, noted that the Russian memorandum is not an ultimatum, but a proposal that will allow real peace to be achieved.